Another View -- Jayne Millerick: Dems scaring women by misleading them on contraception

JAYNE MILLERICKJuly 24. 2014 9:11PMDEMOCRATS are facing stiff head winds as they head into this fall’s elections. They can’t win on the issues, so they’re trying to scare and confuse voters.

We’re seeing that strategy play out right now in New Hampshire. Democrats are spreading myths that a recent Supreme Court decision protecting Americans’ religious freedom threatens women’s ability to access birth control.

That’s ridiculous. And Granite Staters deserve to know the facts about what this decision really means.

First and foremost, women will continue to be able to access the contraceptives of their choice. Although Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has tried to suggest otherwise, the Hobby Lobby decision does not give all employers free rein to “deny coverage for birth control.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling was about making sure that the government cannot force some employers to pay for health insurance that violates their religious convictions.

Under Obamacare, businesses with more than 50 employees are required not just to provide health insurance that includes coverage for all standard birth control.

The family that owns Hobby Lobby was fine with paying for nearly all forms of Obamacare-mandated birth control. But because of their religious beliefs, they felt they could not pay for coverage that includes drugs like the “morning after” pill.

Regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum, most Americans respect the incredible diversity of religious views we have in our country and agree we need to preserve and protect them.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case simply protects Americans who have started businesses, many of whom are also women, from being forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs or being fined by the federal government for failing to comply with a mandate that they believe is morally wrong. Or they can pay a fine to drop health care coverage for their employees altogether.

There is nothing about the Hobby Lobby case that prevents a woman from making her own private medical decisions, that denies her access to contraceptives. Regardless of where a woman works, she will continue to be able to access any of these drugs.

It’s unfortunate that Democrats, led by Sen. Shaheen, are twisting the facts of the Hobby Lobby case. But we all know what they’re trying to do. They can’t run on their record of support for Obamacare, which is a disaster and deeply unpopular here in New Hampshire and across the country. So the Democrats are desperately trying to create a diversion, and they’re going back to President Obama’s false “war on women” campaign playbook.

Voters in New Hampshire won’t be fooled. It’s plain as day that the Hobby Lobby ruling won’t take away birth control or prevent women from making their own decisions about what contraceptives they choose to use.

Jayne Millerick of Bow is former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee.